Illinois Sexual Harassment Training will now be Required: What does an Employer do?
Last week the Illinois General Assembly approved legislation that would require all employers in that state to conduct mandatory sexual harassment training. If signed into law by Illinois Governor Pritzker, this law would take effect on July 1, 2020 and would be the most comprehensive of its kind in the country. Given the substantial implications […]
New York Seeks to Expand Sexual Harassment Laws
In 2018, New York enacted sweeping legislation requiring employers to train nearly all employees that work in that State. While it is likely employers are still scrambling to meet these new requirements, the 2019 legislative session shows no signs of New York slowing down its efforts to eradicate offensive behavior from its workplaces. Lawmakers […]
Examining the Effectiveness of Harassment Training
Much ink has been spilled debating the effectiveness of legalistic (and formulaic) anti-harassment training. Nearly everyone agrees that grouping employees in a room with a 1980’s era VCR/television combination unit and playing a video recorded by a corporate lawyer with little or no training on preventive practice is the wrong way to conduct harassment training, […]
Remaining Cognizant of Harassment by Non-Employees
Few areas of harassment training draw more confusion than cases involving third parties. Employers are left wondering what they can, and should, be doing to protect their employees from harassment that originates via contact with those outside the organization. Hewitt vs. BS Transportation, a recent case decided in the United States District Court for the […]
2018 In Review & the Future of Harassment Training Laws in 2019
A timeline of 2018 harassment incidents read like a “who’s who” of American celebrities and executives. What began in mid-2017 as a social media movement to point out incidents of harassment in the workplace became an everyday occurrence this past year. As #MeToo enters its third calendar year, let’s look at developments in the area […]
Under Armour Ends Practice of Expensing Visits to Gentlemen’s Clubs
For years, Under Armour allowed its employees, managers, supervisors and even its CEO to expense lunch buffet and happy hour visits to a variety of Gentlemen’s Clubs as part of its corporate policy. Under the former policy, Under Armour employees were encouraged to take clients, colleagues and sponsored athletes to strip clubs to relax and […]
How the EEOC is Revamping Workplace Culture to Prevent Harassment
As the United States continues to grapple with how to best respond to the spate of complaints and press about workplace harassment, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) further explores new avenues to addressing this concern. In 2016, the EEOC published its “Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace,” a […]
EEOC Releases Preliminary Findings on Fiscal Year 2018 Charge Statistics
Those of us that have an interest in the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) charge and litigation statistics eagerly await the release of new data toward the beginning of each calendar year. Perhaps never has a fiscal year’s statistics been more eagerly anticipated than that of fiscal 2018. As you are undoubtedly aware, […]
New California Sexual Harassment Training Law Approved by Governor Brown
On October 1, 2018 California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law SB 1343, which amends the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) to require non-managerial employees to receive bi-annual training on the prevention of sexual harassment, gender identity issues and the prevention of abusive conduct in the workplace by January 1, 2020 (or within […]